Google Pixel 10 Pro XL review: Brilliant, but frustrating in some ways

I’m sitting in my study, holding 232 grams of aluminum and glass worth 33 thousand CZK, wondering if Google lives in the same reality as the rest of us. The Pixel 10 Pro XL is a fascinating paradox – a phone that does some things so well it takes your breath away, and others so poorly you wonder if it’s messing with you.

After a month of using it as my main phone, I can say one thing: this isn’t a phone for everyone. In fact, I don’t even know who exactly it’s for. But let’s take it step by step.

First impressions: a brick with magnets

When I first pulled the Pixel 10 Pro XL out of the box, my first thought was: “Damn, that’s a brick.” I used essentially the same words last year. Weighing 232 grams, it’s slightly heavier than the Galaxy S25 Ultra, and even most foldables. After a week of carrying it in my pocket, I almost started walking crooked. Sure, I’m exaggerating, but it really is noticeable. Compared to last year’s XL, the weight increased by 11 grams, a significant portion of which is due to one of this year’s biggest features – Pixelsnap magnetic charging, operating on the Qi2 standard.

These are the first mass-produced Android phones to have magnets. Finally. After five years of envying Apple users, Google is the first company to decide to implement them, and right from the start, I can say it’s an absolutely excellent and practical feature. I won’t go into lengthy detail about how pleasant it is to attach your phone to a wireless car charger or use a power bank with wireless charging; you surely know. However, if you like to carry your phone without a case, you’ll appreciate that you no longer need a magnetic cover. Plus, it even works with Apple’s MagSafe accessories.

Design like last year, but still high quality

The design is… a safe bet. The same as last year’s Pixel 9. Google has found its style and sticks to it like glue. The glossy aluminum frame eagerly collects fingerprints, while the matte back covered with Gorilla Glass Victus 2 is pleasant but as slippery as soap. However, it must be added in the same breath that this is still a premium-built phone with perfect alignment and IP68 certification, which gives you a certain sense of premiumness. And the fact that the appearance didn’t excite me much this year is certainly due in part to the fact that I used the Pixel 9 Pro as my main phone for a relatively long time. So, there was actually nothing to surprise me.

The camera module on the back still protrudes relatively far, but because it’s spread almost across the entire width, it doesn’t wobble on the table, unlike last year’s iPhone or Samsung, for example. We still have the volume buttons swapped with the power button, and at least for the first few days, your muscle memory will take a hit, but then you’ll get used to it.

A small interesting note at the end – in the USA, they even removed the SIM card slot – they only have eSIM. We in Europe still have one nanoSIM slot at the top.

Display: Absolutely phenomenal

If Pixel excels in anything, it’s the display. The 6.8″ LTPO OLED with a maximum brightness of 3,300 nits is simply superb. You can see everything in direct sunlight. It’s the brightest display I’ve held, and that includes the South Korean Ultra, which has anti-reflective glass.

Phone manufacturers often promote peak brightness in their materials, which for the Pixel is the aforementioned 3,300 nits, but across the entire surface, it can still light up to an excellent 2,200 nits, one of the highest values on the market. And surprisingly, it can maintain this brightness for a long time. When I was sitting in the garden with the sun beating down on my back the whole time, the Pixel remained perfectly readable even after I was editing a photo for Instagram.

The 1-120 Hz refresh rate works flawlessly. When you’re reading, it drops to 1 Hz, saving battery. When scrolling, it jumps to 120 Hz, and the display runs smoothly. When watching a 24fps movie, it maintains 24 Hz – no stuttering, no artifacts.

Ultrasonic reader and Face Unlock

The ultrasonic fingerprint reader is fast and reliable. It even works with a wet finger, which you’ll appreciate when trying to unlock your phone after a shower. Face unlock is also great and currently, along with Honor, it’s the best way to unlock with your face in the Android world. Plus, you can use it to unlock banking apps, which usually isn’t possible with competitors.

The 1344 x 2992 pixel resolution is top-notch; watching 4K movies and series on the Pixel is a joy. Oh, and speaking of resolution, whether you have the classic Pro or Pro XL, activate the “Maximum resolution (1344 x 2992)” option in Settings > Display > Screen resolution. By default, it’s stupidly set to 1080 x 2404, which every Android phone in the 4 – 6 thousand CZK price range has. I didn’t notice a significant drop in battery life, and if you’re buying a Porsche, you want a Porsche engine, not a mass-market two-liter turbodiesel.

Performance: Better, but still lagging

Tensor G5 sounds great on paper – manufactured by TSMC, 3nm process, 34% faster than Tensor G4. But the reality is… different. And even though I long excused Google and appreciated it for daring to go its own way, there’s no more time for excuses. Tensor was first introduced with the Pixel 6, in 2021. In four years, Google hasn’t been able to catch up with the competition, which would be understandable, but it hasn’t even come close.

In AnTuTu, it scored 1.42 million points. For comparison: the Galaxy S25 Ultra has 2.2 million, the Xiaomi 15 Ultra over 2.5 million. That’s a difference of almost 40%.

In everyday use, it only occasionally matters

In everyday use, it doesn’t really matter that much. Instagram, TikTok, Chrome, YouTube – everything runs smoothly. The system is responsive, animations are fluid. The problem arises when you want something more. Playing demanding games like CarX Street at maximum details? No way, Tensor was able to run this game at 25 – 30 fps, while even last year’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 stays above 45 fps. Exporting a longer 4K video is also noticeably slower, even compared to my iPhone 16e, a phone that costs less than half of what the Pixel does.

But I have one positive – the phone no longer heats up so crazily during every demanding activity. Instead, it slightly reduces its (already not very good) performance, so tasks take a bit longer, but for me, it’s a better compromise than trying to push clock speeds high at all costs, at the expense of high temperatures, which then, of course, doesn’t benefit battery life either.

Google simply isn’t building a gaming phone. It’s building an AI assistant that can take photos. And in that, Tensor G5 is good – the TPU for AI is 60% faster, Gemini Nano runs locally. It’s just a shame that most AI features don’t work here…

Software: Android from paradise, but only if you live in Silicon Valley

Android 16 with Material 3 Expressive is a visual orgasm. Animations are maximally fluid, the design is consistent, everything just fits. The new environment is truly beautiful, and I personally consider Material 3 Expressive to be the most beautiful Android Google has ever created.

But then you find out that 80% of the praised features don’t work in the Czech Republic:

• Magic Cue – The best new feature that monitors your conversations and offers relevant info (like a flight number when calling the airport)? Nothing in Czech. You have to switch your phone to English.
• Call Screen – A robot that answers annoying calls? English only. So either you talk to telemarketers in English, or forget about this feature.
• Live Translate – Translates your voice during a call into a foreign language AND PRESERVES YOUR INTONATION. It’s like a Star Trek universal translator. It works for French, Spanish, German… Czech? No.
• Hold for Me – Google waits on the line for you and notifies you when someone answers. USA only. We can listen to corporate music ourselves.

So you’re paying a premium price for a phone where most premium features don’t work. What does work? Gemini understands Czech, but every newer phone has that. Circle to Search is great, Magic Eraser too. But all of that is already on other Androids. So why choose Pixel this year?

Camera: World champion in photography, amateur in video

Here, Pixel still reigns supreme. The main 50Mpx sensor (1/1.31″, f/1.68) consistently takes great photos. Not necessarily the sharpest, not with the most details, but simply… nice. The kind you want to share.

However, HDR processing is still as aggressive as a pensioner at the checkout in Kaufland. Every photo looks like you spent an hour editing it. Some people mind it, most people like it. Colors are more saturated than reality, contrast is higher, but not to the point of being kitschy. If you want a phone that produces photos close to DSLRs, buy a Vivo X300 Pro or Xiaomi 15 Ultra.

The telephoto lens with 5× optical zoom finally supports macro from 30 cm, and can finally be called macro. But Google doesn’t mention it anywhere, and it doesn’t work in automatic mode. You have to switch to manual focus, otherwise it focuses at 57 cm. Why? I can’t answer that.

Similarly, you still can’t take portraits with optical zoom; you have to make do with a crop from the main camera or absurdly calculate the blur via AI in Google Photos. These are such strange decisions that they defy logic. Moreover, the community has been vocal about its dissatisfaction, and Pixels have had this problem for a long time. It’s not that difficult; even the Nothing Phone (3a) Pro, costing 10 thousand CZK, or the even cheaper Realme 14 Pro+ can take portraits with a telephoto lens…

100× zoom? A marketing trick

Pro Res Zoom 100× is a marketing trick. Up to 30×, it’s relatively OK, then AI starts painting things that don’t exist. You photograph a building and get Minecraft. Text? Hieroglyphs. You can compare the “airplane” in the sky yourself. However, it’s still better than digital zoom on other phones – Google simply does AI photo manipulations better than anyone else.

Night photos are good, not the best. Xiaomi 15 or Vivo take better night photos. Pixel has more noise, fewer details. Still usable, but no longer top-tier.

Oh, and the preview is still tragic. What you see on the display doesn’t even remotely (especially in dim light or darkness) resemble the final photo. When I used the Pixel 4a years ago, I didn’t realize Google wouldn’t be able to fix it even after six years.

Video disappointed again

And now for the painful part – VIDEO IS NOT GOOD. While the cameras, for me, still belong to the narrow top tier, video is somewhere at the level of mid-range phones costing 12 – 15 thousand CZK, if we exclude iPhones, which even at this price point will outperform the Pixel by several miles. The video is relatively soft, in 4K/60 fps mode, many details are lost, stabilization creates a jelly effect and often fails to keep the subject in focus. Lens switching is choppy, and I would outright describe night video as catastrophic. Even a two-year-old Samsung will be much better in this regard.

Google tries to save it with the Video Boost feature, which looks great, you can get up to 8K outputs through it, and AI-processed videos are indeed much better, but you have to turn the feature on beforehand, wait for the video to upload to the cloud, which usually takes hours, and then wait for the result. So if you want to upload a video quickly somewhere, you’re out of luck.

Battery Life: Lasts a day and a half

A 5200mAh battery is rather average by today’s standards, but Google manages to squeeze solid endurance out of it. With all-day use (social media, YouTube Music, occasional Google Maps, and photography), I end the evening with 30 – 35%. That’s a day and a half of typical use, which in my case corresponds to approximately 7 hours of screen-on time. We’re not at the level of the Galaxy S25 Ultra or iPhone 17 Pro Max, but it’s certainly not as bad as some other reviews suggest.

45W wired charging in 2025 is rather below average. You get about 50% in 30 minutes, and a full charge takes approximately an hour and a half. Wireless charging supports up to 25W with a compatible Qi2.2 charger, which is decent, but the smaller 10 Pro model is limited to just 15W due to thermal constraints.

The Rest: Speakers good, haptics great, price debatable

The stereo speakers are surprisingly good. Loud, with bass, without distortion. Google redesigned the speaker setup, and the result is noticeably better than last year – more bass, greater sound depth. Ideal for YouTube in bed. Haptic feedback is still top-notch. Firm, precise vibrations that surpass any phone on the market, perhaps with the exception of OnePlus. Yes, even the “father of haptics,” the iPhone, is worse off.

Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6.0, 5G, UWB – all modern standards. Connectivity works without issues, mobile signal is solid even in weaker coverage.

Price? That’s the question

Price? 32,990 CZK for 256 GB. For that money, you can get a Galaxy S25 Ultra with better performance, battery, and S Pen. Or an iPhone 17 Pro, which has the best video on the market. The Pixel 10 Pro XL makes sense in the USA, where all AI features work and where it’s more competitively priced. Here? You have to ask yourself if you want to pay 35 thousand CZK for a phone that won’t give you half of its features.

On the other hand – if your primary concern is pure Android, the best photos for Instagram, and magnetic charging, the Pixel makes sense. It’s a phone for people who want the Google experience in its purest form. You just have to be aware of the compromises.

Final Word

The Pixel 10 Pro XL is frustrating. On one hand, it still has the best software, a great camera for photos, and the brightest display. On the other, it has average performance, average battery life, slow charging, and most of its otherwise great AI features don’t work.

The Pixel 10 Pro XL is not a bad phone. It’s a great phone in the wrong place. Google created a product for the American market, where AI features work and where the price makes more sense. In the Czech Republic, you buy a phone at a premium price, but you only get half of the premium experience.

It’s like ordering a luxurious dinner where the main course is excellent, but the soup isn’t delivered, the side dishes are missing, and you can only have dessert if you move to another country.

The Google Pixel 10 Pro XL is a smartphone full of contradictions. It’s a phone that does some things better than anyone else – the display, the camera for photos, the purity of the system. At the same time, it’s a phone that lags so significantly in key areas that it’s hard to recommend without reservations.

The biggest problem isn’t technical, but geographical. Google created a product for the American market and evidently hopes that the rest of the world will be satisfied with half the feature set. That’s a shame, because beneath the surface, the Pixel 10 Pro XL is a great phone. It just needs to live on the right side of the Atlantic.

If you are willing to accept compromises, if you don’t need top-tier performance and only shoot videos occasionally – the Pixel 10 Pro XL might please you. It’s a phone for those who want the Google experience and are willing to pay for it not only with money but also with compromises.

Editor’s rating: 81%

Would you buy the Google Pixel 10 Pro XL?